The invention relates to decontamination. More particularly, the invention relates to decontamination against chemical and biological agents.
Well developed fields exist regarding the decontamination of areas contaminated with chemical and biological agents. Various techniques involve thermal decontamination. Some are typically useful for decontaminating thermally robust contaminated locations such as the exposed surfaces of a military vehicle. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,092 to Sayler discloses a jet engine decontamination system. In such a system, the jet exhaust is directed to the contaminated surfaces and heats them sufficiently to decompose chemical agents and kill biological agents. Various such systems are vehicle-mounted permitting the jet exhaust to be controllably swept over the surfaces to be contaminated.
More recently, concerns regarding laboratory and factory accidents, bio-terrorism, and the like encouraged development of principally chemical decontamination systems for decontaminating less robust (and often larger) locations. For example, the interior of an entire building or a portion thereof (e.g., a room) may need to be decontaminated. Exemplary chemical decontamination systems have typically involved use of chlorine (e.g., chlorine dioxide). However, use of chlorine dioxide raises certain safety considerations. Accordingly, use of hydrogen peroxide vapor for decontamination has been proposed. International Patent Publication WO 02/066082 of Steris, Inc. et al. discloses a flash vaporizer for providing antimicrobial hydrogen peroxide. Chemical systems may also be used in direct spray modes in lieu of the thermal systems. For example, it has been proposed to use a chemical system for the in situ decontamination of jet aircraft engines.
Separately, catalytic systems have been developed to decompose hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen (e.g., to provide oxygen for use in rocket propulsion). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,741 to Watkins and U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,248 to Watkins et al. disclose such catalytic systems.